Lid support



J. W. JOSEPH April 15, 1952 LID SUPPORT 2 SHEETS SHEET 1 Filed Sept. 16, 1948 a?) ZZJols'zg.

ATTOR N EY April 1952 J. w. JOSEPH 2,593,312

LID SUPPORT Filed Sept. 16, 1948 2 SHEETS-SHEET :2

ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 15, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFF-ICE 2.593.312 j- I LID SUPPORT Jay W. Joseph, Winston-Salem, N. assignor to Western Electric Company, Incorporated, New

York, N. Y.,' a corporation 'of New York Application September 16, 1948, Serial No. 49,604

This invention relates to lid or. cover supports and more particularly to supports for hinged pivoted lids of cabinets orreceptacles.

It is an object of this invention to provide a lid support which is relatively Simple and inexpensive in construction and efficient in operation.

Another object of the present inventionis to provide a lid support with an automatic latch that positively'holds a lid in an elevated position without the danger of thelid falling and injuring an operator who might have a portion of his body beneath the lid. a

A still further object is to provide a lid support whereby a hinged lid to anenclosure may be raised with one hand by an operator and automatically latched and held in the elevated or open position. I

- In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a strut having an elongated longitudinal slot therein is pivotally secured to a lid or cover of a cabinet. This slot is so shaped that the lower portion is enlarged and the contour of the enlarged portion is such that two cam surfaces orabutments are formed which project into the enlarged portion of the slot. To thebody of the cabinet a toothed rotor is rotatably mounted so as to ride within the elongated slot. -Thus whenthe lid is raised to amaximum position,' the rotor strikes one of the cam surfaces and is rotated to a predetermined position, then when the lid is released, the othercam engages a pair of teeth onthe rotor to hold th'erotor stationary and'the lid is latched in an elevated open position.

Other features and advantages of. the "invention willbecome apparent from the following do taileddescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which; Fig.1 is a fragmentary 'side elevational' view of.

a cabinet and lid embodying the features of this.

invention; I

Fi'g. 2 is afragmentary front elevational view of the cabinet shown in Fig. l;

Figs. 3, 4, 5 and 6 are enlarged detailed views of the. rotor and the strutshown in Fig. 1 when the lid, ofthecabinetnis in various positions;

'7. isan. enlargeddetailed cross sectional view taken on line 1- -1 of. Fig. 1 showing the rotor, bracketan'd rotor-supportv.Referring now to the drawings wherein like s'olaims. (o1. zip-e0) 7 reference numerals designate the same elements throughout the several views, attention is first di rected to Figs. 1 and 2 wherein the reference numeral I0 designates-a cabinet to whicha lid H is pivotally supported or hinged at J2, To the lid H a strut or arm-l3 is pivotally mounted by means of a screw H! or any other suitable pivot member. Running longitudinally'of the strut 13 is an elongated guide slot [5 having an enlarged open portion l6 at the lower end thereof. The strut is so shaped as to form two cam surfaces or abutments l1 and 1,8 which project into the enlarged opening l6 of the slot [5.

Secured to; the cabinet [0 by any suitable means is a block l9 having'an aperture therethrough fora bolt 20. A-four-toothed rotor 2| is rotatably mounted on theblock 19 by means of the bolt 20 and a nut 22 (Fig. '7) and it is positioned to ride within the guide slot IS. A guide bracket 23 is also rotatably mounted on. the block [9 by means of the bolt Zfl and the nut 22. This bracket 23 has two inturned edges 25 and 25 which form a pair of guide channels inwhich the strut i3 is positioned for sliding movement. In ordertomaintaina frictional drag on the rotor andon the bracket, 2. spring washer 21 is mounted on the bolt 20 between the bracket 23 and the rotor 2 I. The dragapplied by the resilient spring washer 21 maybe varied by adjusting the tension of the nut 22 On the bolt 20. Thus when a sufficient drag is placed upon the rotor by means of the spring washer 21, the rotor does not rotate nor move from a preset position unless a force capable of overcoming the frictional drag is applied to the rotor.

I Theshapeof the rotor 2 I isapprqgim ta that:

ofa parallelogram with the oppositeends thereof notched out to provide four teeth 2a, 39, so and V-shaped notches 32 and 33 formed by the teeth.

are adapted to be engaged by the abutments I! and I8 to rotate the rotor 2| to predetermined positions when the lid is raised and lowered.

The strut support and assembled latch machanism operates in the following manner. .Assuni ing the lid I l is in an open positionlas shown in Fig. 1 thenthe rotor 21 is positioned. so that the 3 teeth 29 and 3| engage the abutment l8 to hold the rotor stationary and hence the lid in the elevated open position. In order to close the lid I of the cabinet II], it is necessary for the operator to raise the lid to its maximum elevation whereupon the rotor tooth 30 strikes the abutment l1 and the rotor is rotated to the position shown in Fig. 3. The lid is then lowered by the operator and the strut I3 moves downward in guide bracket 23 bringing the abutment l8 into engagement with the left side of the rotor 2| whereupon continued downward movement of the strut causesthe rotor 2| and the bracket '23.

to rotate in a counterclockwise direction as illustrated by the solid line figure in Fig. 4. The ro tation of the rotor continues until the side face of the rotor 2| is parallel with the face of'thev 4 into the slot to contact and rotate the rotor to a predetermined position when the lid is raised, and a second means projecting into the slot for engaging the rotor in the predetermined position when the lid is released to retain the lid in an elevated position.

4. A supporting device for hinged lids of receptacles, including an arm having an elongated longitudinal slot therein, said arm being pivotally secured to the lid, a guide member for said arm, said guide member being pivotally mounted to the receptacle, a toothed rotor rotatably mounted on the receptacle and positioned within said slot, means projecting into an enlarged portion of the slot to contact and rotate the rotor to a predetermined position when the lid is raised tion, the operator raises the lid as far as it will go. The rotor 2| rides ,in the slot l5 until'the tooth 29 strikes the abutment ll of the strut l3 whereupon the rotor 21 is slightly rotatedto a predetermined position as shown in- Fig, 6. Theoperator then releases the lid whereupon the notch 32 of the rotor 2| is engaged by the abutment -|8 of the strut: |3 to hold the rotor stationary and thus the lid is latched in anelevated open position.

It'is-tobe understood that the above described arrangements are-simply illustrative of the ap-. plication of the principles of the invention. Nu.- merous other arrangements and applicationsmay be' readily devised by those-skilled inthe art which will embody the principles of the invention and will fall'within the spirit and scope thereof.

What-is claimed is:

1; Ina device for supporting a cover of acontainer; an arm pivotally secured to. the cover and-having a longitudinal slot therein, means pivotally mounted to the container for guiding said arm, a rotor rotatablysecured to the containerand positioned within said slot, means at one end of the slot forming a right angle abutment projecting into the slot to contact and rotatethe rotor to a predetermined position when the cover is lifted, and means spaced from-said first mentioned means and forming a right angle abutment projecting into the slotto engage the rotor in the: predeterminedposition when the cover is released; to hold-the rotor stationary whereby the cover is held the lifted position.

2 Ina latching-device for holding a pivotally mounted coverof a container in an elevated position, an arm pivotally secured tothe cover and having an elongated'slot terminating at its lower end in an enlarged opening; means pivotally mounted to the containerforguiding said-arm, a rotor'rotatably' mounted on said container and positioned within said slot; means to contact'and ro tate said rotor to a predetermined position in the enlarged opening of the slot whenthe cover is lifted, and means projecting intothe slotto engage the rotor in said predetermined position to cause thecover to be latched in arr-elevated position.-

3. In a device for supporting a lid of a cabinet, an arm pivotally secured to the lid, said armhavlng an elongated ,slottherein, a bracket pivotally mountedto the cabinet for guiding said arm, arotor rotatably mounted on the cabinet and positioned within the slot, means projecting to-aimaximum elevation, and a second means forming a right abutment projecting into the enlarged-portion of the slot for the purpose of engagingtheteeth of the rotor in the predeter mined positionand to hold the rotor stationary whereby the lid is held in the elevated position.

5. Ina device for supporting a lid of a cabinet, anarm pivotally secured to the lid having an elongated slot therein,.the slot being enlarged near its lower-terminus, the enlarged portion of the slot being ofsuch shape as to form jtWO ops posed abutments on the arm projecting. into the slot, a guide member for said arm, said *guide member being pivotally mounted to the. cabinet, a toothed rotor rotatably mounted on the cabinet and positioned to operate within the slot, one of said abutments being provided for the purpose of contacting and-rotatingtherotor toa predetermined position when the lid is lifted, and

the second abutment being provided for thepurpose of engaging the teeth of I the rotor iirt'he predetermined position whereby the-rotor is-held stationary and'the-lid isheld inanelevated position.

6.'In a device for supporting a lid of av cabinet, anarm pivotally secured to the lid and-having a longitudinal slot therein, a bracket pivotally secured to the cabinet for guiding said arm,- a rotor rotatably secured to the cabinet and positioned withinthe slot, said rotor having a pluralityof notches, means projecting into the slot to contact and rotate the rotor to apredetermined position when the lid is raised, andmeans I projecting "into the slot to engage the rotor "in one ofthe said notches when-said rotor is ;-in said predetermined position whereby therotor is-held stationary and the lid is held in the raised position.

7. Ina device for supporting a lid -of;;a cabinet,-

arrarnr pivotally secured to the lidhavi'nganelongated longitudinal slot therein, said slot-bei ng enlarged near its lower terminus; to iorm twoabutmentsw projecting into the slot, a bracket pivotally-secured to the, cabinet and for guiding said arm, a rotor" pivotally securedto thecabinet and positioned within the slot, said rotor-having a pluralityof notches, one of saidabutmentsbeingrprovided,- for. the purpose; of1rotating the rotor to a predetermined position whenthe lid is raised, and the second abutment beingpro vided for the purpose of engaging one of -the notches to hold the rotor stationary and to-maintain the lid in the raised position.

8. In a device for supporting a pivotally mounted lid of a cabinetin an elevated position, an. arm pivotally mounted to the lid' and having an elongated longitudinal slot therein, the slot being enlarged at; its lower terminus to form two abutments projecting into the slot, a bracket Number two ends notched, said abutments being pro- 5 vided for the purpose of rotating the rotor into a position so that the parallel sides of the rotor ride upon the side walls of the slot to act as a second guide means for the arm.

JAY W. JOSEPH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

Number 6 UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Collins Apr. 23, 1929 Lustig Janm21, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain Aug. 9, 1923 Great Britain Apr. 17, 1930 Great Britain July 10, 1930 

